Emil heard the first scream pierce the silent air, followed by the slump of a body hitting the mud, and knew that the bandits were upon them. Edessa moved forward to meet the bandits from the front with her bow. Atop her horse, she began firing with her bow. The air around them quickly grew loud with the sound of battle, steel clashing against steel, and the grunts of men as they fought against one another. Figures seemed to rush out of the fog with reckless abandon, too difficult to spot or make out until they were within melee range.

Time seemed to slow, and the noise became a single dull ring as Emil took in the sudden scene of battle. His heart began racing as his hand clenched around the grip of the sword strapped to his side. For a moment, Emil was motionless, as the battle began to surge around him. An arrow flew by his face and he snapped out of it. His mind finally caught up with his racing heart, and his eyes sharpened. He sunk lower in his saddle, his eyes rapidly darting around the field, scanning for foes, all the while the orb of light hidden within his cloak became brighter and brighter. Emil heard the pained call of a nearby horse as it fell to the ground and quickly located it. It was Gaarth's horse, and the large man had fallen to the ground, and was struggling to get up as a bandit with a spear rushed him.

Nimbly rolling off his horse, Emil deftly fell to the ground on one knee, and pushed off the ground in the direction of Gaarth, easily crossing the distance in a few bounds. Planting himself firmly on the ground in front of the charging bandit, Emil whipped his hand out from within his cloak, pushing the orb of light in front of him with an open palm. The orb exploded into a wide circle around his palm, inscribed with various shifting runes and emitting bright light as it met with the point of the bandit's spear and stopped it in its tracks. There was a stunned silence. Both the bandit and Gaarth stared at Emil in awe, as the glow of the circle caught his facial features from underneath his cloak hook.

"Mage." Gaarth said breathlessly. The bandit took a step back, surprised.

Pressing his advantage, Emil deftly drew his own sword from its sheath, a well balanced arming sword, its polished blade glistening as the moisture from the fog stuck to it. Emil stepped forward as his glowing barrier disappeared, deliver a low cut to the bandit's stomach, his blade cutting easily through the flesh and leather the bandit wore. As the bandit buckled forward, Emil delivered a second, backhand cut diagonally upwards across the Bandit's upper chest. The bandit fell back without a word. Emil turned to see Gaarth, who had at this point recovered, and stood with his weapon at the ready. The large mercenary stared at Emil suspiciously before finally cracking a uneasy smile.

"So, I suppose this is what you meant by 'Protector'..?"

Emil didn't answer, instead he pulled his hood off, giving him a better view of his surroundings. Quickly scanning around, Emil located Edessa, dismounted and with her sword drawn. Around her, near half a dozen bandits advanced on her, hefting their rusty axes and blades as they moved to surround her. Emil frowned, Edessa was competent in both ranged and melee combat, and her style of swordplay was developed specifically for taking on multiple foes, unlike Emil, who grew up learning how to face single foes or small groups of foes. Rangers in general were well suited to and skilled in most fields of combat, and Edessa was likely superior to most of these bandits, however it was still possible for her to be overwhelmed, especially as she began to tire and make mistakes.

On her own, it was only a matter of time before Edessa fell to overwhelming numbers. However, Edessa was not on her own, she had with her the powers of a Tower-trained Mage. Emil held his hands in front of him, a silver band around his finger serving as a focus for him as he began channeling magical energy. His vision became blurred, the noise around him faded into nothingness, Emil's senses drifted away from him as most of his mental resources became devoted to concentrating on his magic. A glowing sphere around his hands grew to the size of a man's head before the light within began to increase in intensity.

Breathing out sharply, Emil's eyes regained focus as from the ball of light in his hands sprung a series of smaller orbs, streaking light behind them as they soared towards Edessa. Small orbs of light impacted various parts of Edessa's body, leaving glowing circles of various sizes hovering just over her skin and clothes. Larger circles covered her chest and back while smaller ones guarded her arms and legs, as she was encased in a protective shell of magic wards, runes shifting across the circles as the circles slowly spun in place. Emil stepped to Edessa's side, his movements considerably more deliberate as he focused on maintaining his spell. While not helpless, and still able to defend himself, the complexity of Edessa's guard meant he could no longer fight to his full potential. 

"Its ready Edessa. As long as I stand, you shall not fall." He said quietly.

Gaarth stepped up behind him, his own blade at the ready. "Aye, and I'll make sure he doesn't fall."